Restless Dead (Harry Grimm Book 5) by David Gatward (english reading book TXT) 📗

weights. And then I strung the line down from the window to the floor, across the bedroom floor, out across the landing, and into my own room. And then I just waited.’

‘For what?’ Matt asked.

‘Mum and Dad went to bed at half ten, so I’d had to force myself to stay up. Wasn’t that difficult, if I’m honest, as I was so excited about what I was about to do.’

‘And your parents went to bed?’ Harry said.

‘They did,’ said Beverly, ‘and they didn’t see the fishing line. Why would they? It’s basically invisible if you lay it on the carpet. I waited for them to turn out the light, gave it a few more minutes, you know, until the house was really, really quiet, and then, in my own bed, pretending to be asleep, I just gave a little tug on the fishing line.’

‘What happened?’ Matt asked.

‘I didn’t expect it to work at all!’ Beverly said. ‘But there was this sound of tapping from the window in my parents’ bedroom!’

‘And they heard it?’ Harry asked.

‘Not right away, no,’ Beverly said. ‘I tapped again, waited a minute, then again, and then I heard Mum say to Dad that she could hear something tapping against the window.’

‘And I bet you got a right old bollocking!’ Matt said, shaking his head.

‘Dad got up, went over to the window, and I thought I’d had it, but all I heard him say was that he couldn’t see anything outside, then he pulled the curtains shut again and went back to bed!’

‘You got away with it?’ Matt said.

‘I did,’ said Beverly. ‘So, I waited, and did it again.’

Harry was amazed. ‘And what happened then?’

‘Mum was in a right panic,’ Beverly said. ‘Started telling dad someone was outside throwing stones at the window. Then the lights were on and Dad was up and grumbling as he went to the window, and he’s looking out and saying that there’s nothing out there, that no one’s throwing anything, and then he finds the fishing line!’

‘You must have been grounded for months!’ Matt said.

‘I threw the end of the line out onto the landing,’ Beverly said. ‘Dad was following it but pulling it in so by the time he was outside the bedroom he had the end of it in his hand, so he had no idea who had done it, me or my sister.’

‘Didn’t he check?’

‘I think he was just too tired,’ Beverly said. ‘And they never said anything in the morning either. I’ve never asked why. Sometimes I wonder if they just forgot, or maybe they were just amazed that one of their own kids could do such a well thought out trick. It was amazing how it worked, it really was!’

‘And that’s what you did at the Fletcher’s, wasn’t it?’ Harry asked.

‘I’m not proud of it,’ Beverly said. ‘I asked to be left alone, fixed up the line and weights, then had everyone back into the room. I’ve done it before and it’s always worked.’

‘So, you fake séances, then,’ Matt said. ‘Why would you do that?’

‘No, I don’t,’ Beverly said. ‘I don’t fake them. I just add to the atmosphere a little. And it usually helps. It’s like if you’re watching a horror film and how it’s always better if you turn the lights out, right? So, if you have something unexplained happen while you’re doing a séance, then people are more open to it all and proper things happen, real experiences and phenomena. If they can accept a knocking at the window, then they can accept that perhaps the dead can and do want to communicate with us.’

‘Sounds a bit dodgy, if you ask me,’ Matt said.

‘And what about the voices?’ Harry asked. ‘We’ve spoken to the family and they’ve all said about how you did something to sound different when you spoke.’

‘That wasn’t me,’ Beverly said, her expression now firm and serious. ‘I promise you that. Absolutely bloody terrified me.’

‘But you’ve just told us that you faked the tapping at the window,’ Matt said.

‘I did,’ Beverly said, ‘but not the voice. That was new. It’s never happened before. Like I said, it was bloody terrifying!’

‘I think,’ Harry said, ‘I need to remind you that you are under caution.’

‘I’m not lying!’ Beverly snapped back. ‘I know I’m under caution and I told you I faked the tapping! I’ve admitted that, haven’t I? That fishing line, the weights, they’re mine! Ask my parents how I did it as a kid if you don’t believe me! I thought I’d picked it all up, but obviously not, because there it is. But it doesn’t mean I faked the whole thing. I wouldn’t know how! I had nothing to do with the fire!’

‘I need to ask if you’ve ever been to the house before,’ Harry said.

‘Before when?’ Beverly asked.

‘Before your first visit,’ Harry said. ‘The family reported the sighting of an intruder on the property in the time between Helen’s accident and last night.’

‘What, and you think I was out there, do you, scouting around the place? Why would I do that?’

‘Why would you fake a séance?’ Matt asked.

Harry asked the question again, detailing the sightings that he and Matt, and Jen and Liz had responded to.

‘It wasn’t me,’ Beverly said.

‘And you can prove that?’ Matt asked. ‘Are you able to prove where you were at those times?’

‘Do I have to?’

‘If you can show you were somewhere else at the time, then it will be fairly obvious that you weren’t on the property,’ Harry said.

‘Well, the second date I was at work,’ Beverly said. ‘I work at the private school in Sedbergh. The first, I’ll have to double-check.’

Harry checked his watch. ‘Then I’ll leave you to do that with DS Dinsdale,’ he said, bringing the interview to its official end he turned off the recorder and rose to his feet.

‘So, I’m not under arrest?’ Beverly said.

‘No,’ Harry said. ‘However, we may have other questions to ask you, in light of the information you’ve provided, and if anything else comes to